A Dark Stormy Night
by CSI-Ash
Summary: Brass makes Grissom understand the values of life. GSR. Set in Pre-GSR-canon seasons. PS I don't own any of the CSI characters. Rated Teen just to be safe, more like a K rating. Please Read and Review! I apologize if I have any typos!


It was a dark and stormy night. Grissom drove his SUV through a torrential rain in Vegas on his way home to his townhouse. He was struggling to stay awake but a loud crash of thunder kept him alert and looking at the road ahead, he had been working a triple shift after all. Finally getting home after a trip that felt much longer than usual, he parked his Denali beside his townhouse and quickly ran inside avoiding the rain. He quickly shut his front door and leaned back against it, trying to push away his thoughts of the child abduction case they had been working for two consecutive shifts. He walked over to his kitchen to grab a bottle of water after taking off his drenched jacket and shoes, and slumped down on his leather couch. He took a long sip of water as he switched on his fireplace with a remote.

"Finally, I can get some peace and quiet…" he mumbled to himself.

He leaned his head against the back of his couch and let his mind drift away in the silence of the room. Just as he felt he was going to fall into a deep sleep, he heard a sudden noise coming from his kitchen, like someone was walking around…

"What the…" Grissom turned around and couldn't believe his eyes.

"Good evening Gil." Brass spoke up as he walked closer to Grissom.

"Jim, is that… you?"

"Gil, you look like you've seen a ghost." Jim snickered as he stood in front of Grissom who was still frozen in time, sitting on his couch.

Grissom stayed silent as Brass sat down on the couch beside him.

"Are you…?" Grissom started to ask.

"Dead? Yeah. I got hit by a semi who ran a red light during the storm tonight on my way home." He answered plainly.

"How…?" Grissom was at loss for words, staring at Brass' form.

"Don't ask me, I was sent here to talk to you.

Grissom looked over at his friend sitting down beside him. Brass was clad in a long white cloak and to top it all off, his friend was semi-transparent.

"Why are you here?" Grissom was still curious as to why this meeting was taking place.

"To talk to you." Brass added calmly.

"I figured so…" Grissom rolled his eyes. Brass stood up from the couch and turned to Grissom.

"Actually, I'm here to show you some past events in your life."

"My life? What are you talking about Jim?"

"Stand up and grab my hand." Brass reached out his hand to Grissom, to help him get up from the couch.

"If you say so…" Grissom reluctantly agreed. Just as Grissom grabbed Brass' semi-transparent hand to get up, his living room started to fade out into complete darkness.

"What…?" Grissom was confused. Just then, the darkness surrounding them was replaced by light, but they weren't in his living room anymore, they were in a large well-lit university auditorium.

"Recognize anything?" Brass asked his friend smiling.

"Yes, I do. My classes in my freshman year at Harvard were in here."

"Take a look." Brass pointed to a young handsome man sitting in the last row all by himself, taking down notes on an old scribbler.

"That's not possible…" Grissom admitted.

"You weren't a bad looking fella back in university." Brass laughed. "A little anti-social though…" he continued to laugh.

Some other students started to fill out the large auditorium, some walking right past without noticing them.

"Don't they see us Jim?" Grissom asked.

"No, this is a vision from your past, we are merely watching time go by, not living it." Brass started walking towards the younger version of Grissom, the present Grissom quickly following him in tow. They walked up to the young Grissom who was still taking down some notes.

"I guess you've always been a workaholic eh?" Brass laughed pointing at young Grissom. Grissom frowned back at Brass.

Just then a loud voice spoke from the front of the auditorium.

"Good day class. Have any of you ever seen a horse fly?" The man laughed at his own joke. "I'm sure many of you are just itching to see what insects we will study in this Entomology 101 class. Welcome everyone." The teacher walked over to a projector in front of the class. "Now, please turn to page 10 of your manuals." All the students in the auditorium took out their books.

"Why are we here Jim?" Grissom turned to Brass standing beside him.

"We're starting at the beginning of your adult life."

"Starting?" Grissom was confused.

"You'll see…" Just then Brass grabbed Grissom's hand and the auditorium faded to black, and when the scene around them began to light up again, they were in another large auditorium, sitting in seats among a few hundred people.

"My graduation…" Grissom admitted in a quiet voice.

Graduates could be seen sitting in the front of the large room, going one by one to the front podium to receive their diplomas. Then came a young, but slightly older Grissom dressed up in graduate's clothing. The man standing at the podium started to speak again.

"Gilbert Grissom, graduating with Honors in the field of Entomology with a cumulative GPA of 4.0." The man shook young Grissom's hand and handed him his diploma. The young Grissom was smiling like a fool.

"4.0?" Brass looked over at Grissom.

"What? I studied quite a bit…"

"And how many girl friends did you have?" Brass laughed which in turn earned him a frown from Grissom.

"I dedicated my time to studying and playing poker to pay for my tuition. What does a girl friend have to do with anything?"

"Just curious." Brass admitted smiling. "How about we move a little further down the time line of your life?" He added more seriously.

"Sure, these seats are getting uncomfortable…" Grissom admitted as he watched his younger self walk away with his diploma.

Brass grabbed Grissom hand and they appeared into a new location.

Grissom immediately recognized where they were.

"We're at the lab?"

Brass nodded in return. They were standing in the lab hallway until a slightly younger version of himself walked past them.

"My first year on the job in Vegas." Grissom recalled. Just then a younger version of Ecklie walked by them.

"Man," Brass laughed. "Ecklie did have hair at some point in his life…" Brass chuckled again. "Why so serious Gil?"

"This is the day that Ecklie got promoted to CSI level 3 instead of me…" Brass could see Grissom getting angrier by the second.

"You mean… this is where this whole rivalry between you two started?" Brass questioned.

"Yes and no, Ecklie was the one who started it all." Grissom pointed in Ecklie's direction and started walking, Brass followed.

Grissom stopped in front of the assistant director's office, and walked through the door. Ecklie was sitting across from the assistant director.

"Is it a deal sir?" Ecklie asked.

"Sure, I'll make sure you'll get promoted to CSI 3, but you better keep your end of the bargain Conrad." Ecklie nodded and then shook hands with the man.

"This," Grissom pointed in Ecklie's direction "… is why I dislike Ecklie's tactics to run this lab, and what do you know, he did get his wish..." Grissom added with disgust.

"I knew Conrad was into lab politics, but this…" Brass pointed. "If you knew about it, why didn't you do anything about it?"

"I was new, and confrontation never was one of my strong suits." Grissom admitted.

Brass shrugged. "So much for office politics…" Brass walked closer to Grissom. "How about we get out of here? I've seen enough of Ecklie for a while. Ecklie is definitely not the first person I had in mind to follow around after I'm dead." Chuckled Brass. Grissom rolled his eyes as Brass grabbed his hand and their scenery changed once again.

They found themselves again in a large university auditorium.

"Forensics Seminar at UCLA. I taught a forensic entomology class." Grissom remembered.

"That's right. And look who's here too…" Brass pointed to an attractive young brunette sitting in the front row.

"Sara." Grissom walked over to where Sara was sitting.

"She was gorgeous." Brass admitted.

Grissom frowned.

"Sorry, correction, still is." Brass smiled. Brass noticed that Grissom was observing her, taking all of her appearance in, like he was trying to engrave it into his memory a second time.

"Earth to Gil." Brass laughed.

"Sorry…" Just then Grissom heard his voice from behind.

"Good afternoon class, I'm Dr. Gilbert Grissom from the Las Vegas Nevada Crime Lab. You can call me Grissom. I will be teaching you the basics and history of Entomology in Forensics." Grissom's younger self continued to start teaching the class.

Brass couldn't help but look at Grissom. Grissom wasn't looking at his younger self teach, but was absorbed in something else, Sara.

Young Grissom started speaking again. "Before I move on to the life cycle of the carpet beetle, are there any questions about the life cycle of the blowfly?"

Young Sara lifted her hand up as young Grissom scanned the room for questions, and then pointed at her.

"Yes, miss."

"Can the life cycle of the carpet beetle in a case be altered by unforeseen circumstances such as different climates and environments?" she asked.

"Very good question miss. To answer your question, the carpet beetle…" Young Grissom continued to explain his answer, still looking intently at Sara.

Grissom looked proudly at Sara, she had been his start pupil at this seminar, and a smile started to form on his face.

"Don't go all mushy on me now Gil…" Brass laughed as Grissom started to frown.

"How about we fast forward a little bit, shall we?" Brass asked Grissom. Before Grissom could answer Brass grabbed his hand and they were carried off to a small diner.

"How about this eh? All these years you never told me you knew Sara for such a long time… I thought we were friends?" Brass laughed again, faking a sad expression.

Brass and Grissom walked across the diner to a small table where young Grissom and Sara were having coffee.

Young Grissom was the first to speak.

"Your name Miss, is Sidle, right or am I wrong?"

"Yes, you can call me Sara though." And she flashed him one of her signature Sidle-smiles.

"Well, you can call me Gil or Grissom, your choice." And he smiled back at her as she nodded.

"So, Grissom, you work at the Las Vegas Crime Lab?" she inquired.

"Yes, I'm a CSI level 3 working on graveyard shift. I poke around evidence, mostly those contaminated with insects." Young Grissom chuckled, which in turn made young Sara chuckle. "Where are you at in your studies, Sara?"

"I'm majoring in physics at UCLA, but I'm not quite sure what to do afterwards, I have been considering forensics for the past few years…"

"I think you'd do great in forensics." He smiled. "And you had some very good questions this afternoon." He added, which in turn made her blush.

"Uh, Thanks…" she stammered, quickly hiding behind her cup of coffee.

"If you want, after you graduate and if you still want to pursue a career in forensics, I have many connections to various crime labs in California." He offered.

"Really? I couldn't thank you enough, that would be great!" she then again gave him one of her signature smiles.

"No problem, I'd be glad to help you out." Young Grissom reached into his pocket to retrieve something. "If ever you want to contact me, or if you have any questions, I'd be glad to be of assistance." He wrote down his information on a piece of paper and handed it to her.

"Thank you so much." She smiled as she took the paper from his hand, slightly brushing hands with him.

Young Grissom quickly took his hand back and cleared his throat.

"I should get going, my flight back to Nevada leaves in 8 hours, and I still need to get my things from my hotel…" he awkwardly said as he stood up.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't know that your flight was leaving so early tomorrow…" she apologized.

"That's fine, besides I wanted to meet you in person after the seminar." His grin elevated her fears.

"Well it was an honor to meet you, Grissom, and I will make sure to keep in touch with you." She smiled and stood up in front of him and held out her hand.

"Well it was an honor to meet you Sara, I am certain that you will accomplish well in your classes." He held out his hand and they shook hands, both blushing a little before letting go.

"Isn't that cute?" Brass commented with a wide grin.

Grissom gave him a stern look. "Don't you ever call me cute…" Grissom warned.

"Or what? You'll kill me? Kinda late for that!" Brass laughed.

"Very funny Jim…"

"Why didn't you make a move back then? You were both young…?" Brass couldn't help but ask.

"Jim, why do you want to know? Besides, the reasons are too many to name, she was still a student and we were in different cities…" Grissom could admit this, after all, he thought, Brass wasn't going to tell anyone in his state of being.

"So you did like her, didn't you?" Brass inquired.

"What difference does it make now?" Grissom hopelessly admitted. "Things are much different now, and I can't change anything that happened here or anywhere in the past."

"True, but you can change what happens in the future Gil." Grissom frowned. "And you still haven't answered my question."

"I did care, what else do you want from me Jim? Besides, what do you want me to do about it?" Brass knew that Sara was Grissom's Achilles' heel.

"How about I show you…" And Brass again, grabbed Grissom's hand and they were off to someplace different, the lab again.

Sara could be seen seated across from him, wiping away tears from her eyes.

"The husband doesn't get it, he's so happy she's going to live. He doesn't realize that she's going to be in a vegetative state for the rest of her life." She wipes away a few tears again. "And that kid Thorpe, is going to be out of juvie in 48 months." She then added softly. "It's not fair."

Grissom could see his slightly younger self sitting across from Sara. His other self took a deep breath.

"It's the system" his other self replied.

"What kind of system rewards the suspect when the victim is too tough to die?" She wiped away another tear going down her cheek.

Grissom looked at his other self intently. His other self was speechless, just sitting there.

Sara got up and headed towards his office door, but he stopped her.

"Sara, you got to learn to let this go, or you're going to spend all you time in hospitals trying to help the people you couldn't save."

"This is the best part Gil…" Brass added which earned him a dirty look from Grissom.

"I wish I was like you, Grissom, I wish I didn't feel anything." And she turned on her heels and got out of his office, leaving behind a speechless Grissom that took a deep breath.

"How could you do this to her Gil? Do you, feel anything?" Brass asked.

"I thought you were on my side Jim!" Grissom yelled.

"This is only the beginning Gil…" Brass quickly grabbed Grissom's hand and they were still in his office.

"We're still here Jim." Grissom wasn't the least bit happy.

"I know, but not the same time." Jim replied.

Grissom looked at his other self packing up his things and grabbing a card from his desk, until Sara walked into the office.

"You got a minute?"

"I was just leaving."

"Yeah, … the schedule says you're off tonight."

"Yeah, I am."

"Me too…" she smiled back at him.

"You should be on paid leave." His other self looked concerned.

"I'm fine" Sara countered.

"You were fortunate. And I'm not talking about the explosion…" he warned.

"You talked to Brass?"

"And Nick."

Younger Grissom grabbed the rest of his things from his desk, still looking at her.

"We got the guy." She argued. He walked over towards his office door.

"Is that all you have to say?"

"Here it comes…" Brass added.

"Would you like to have dinner with me?"  
Grissom watched his other self stop and look at her.

"No." his other self answered her.

"Why not? Let's… let's have dinner, let's see what happens."

"Sara..." he sighed. His other self took in a deep breath.

"I don't know what to do about this?" pointing the card he was holding in his hand back and forth between them.

"I do." They stood there looking at each other.

"You know, by the time you figure it out, you really could be too late." And without hesitation, she left his office, as he left his office, shutting the door behind him.

"So…?" Brass spoke.

"What???" Grissom did not look too happy.

"Why didn't you go out to dinner with her?"

"Why should I tell you?" he barked back.

"I'm a dead man, what more do you want me to do with that information?" he laughed.

"I had my hearing appointment with my doctor, I was losing my hearing." He admitted.

"And you didn't tell her? I'm pretty sure she cared enough about you, even as a co-worker, to handle the news. You could have told her that you could go out to dinner another time Gil." Brass poked back at Grissom who was getting angrier by the second.

"Who are you to tell me what I should have done? I'm her supervisor for God's sake!"

"Suit yourself. How about one last look here…" Brass grabbed Grissom's hand again, and this time, they found themselves on the other side of a one sided mirror, looking into an interrogation room.

"Hey, I'm actually in this one!" Brass laughed pointing into the interrogation room, but Grissom looked over to his right where Sara was standing beside him. Grissom could hear his other self talking to a suspect in the interrogation room.

"It's sad, isn't it doc? Guys like us. Couple of middle aged men who've allowed their work to consume their lives. The only time we ever touch other people is when we're wearing our latex gloves. We wake up one day and realize that for fifty years, we haven't really lived at all. But all of a sudden, we get a second chance. Somebody young and beautiful shows up, somebody… we can care about. She offers us a new life with her… but we have a decision to make right? Because we have to risk everything we've worked for in order to have her … I couldn't do it… but you did, you risked it all."

Grissom looked over beside him, filled with sorry and worry as Sara started to have watery eyes, and a stray tear fell down her cheek.

His other self continued on the other side of the glass… "and she showed you a wonderful life, didn't she? But then she took it away and gave it to somebody else, and you were lost… so you took her life. You killed them both, and now you have nothing."

"I'm still here." Lurie replied.

"Are you?" Grissom saw how defeated his other self looked.

Grissom looked over to Sara that now had tears falling from her eyes.

"You didn't know Sara was here did you?" Brass asked him, but when he didn't answer, Brass continued "Didn't you realize that you ignored Sara for most of the case? Imagine how she felt Gil, knowing that she wasn't the risk compared to your job, not to mention the vic looked like her twin." Brass actually looked sincere.

Grissom didn't answer, as he turned and stood in front of Sara, even if she couldn't see him.

"Gil?" Brass looked over to his friend that was standing in front of her, eyes teary.

"Gruesome Grissom showing emotion? I sure wish I had my camera with me!" Brass laughed.

"Why did you bring me here Jim?" Grissom sounded defeated. "Why the emotional torture from the past to the present?"

"To make you think about things Gil."

"How is that? Make me realize that the thing I want is out of reach? Some help you are…" Grissom was fighting back his tears.

"How about… I bring you to the future? Would that knock some sense into you?"

"The future?" Grissom was confused.

"I know you're not one to believe in destiny or anything, but your future has been written out for you at the moment."

"I have a hard time believing that Jim."

"Let me show you then…" Brass grabbed Grissom's hand, and they found themselves in a parking lot behind an old warehouse somewhere in Vegas. Grissom noticed that there was crime scene tape around the perimeter of a crime scene, and another copy of himself and Sara were processing evidence of what seemed to be a car crashed into a street light pole. Grissom slowly walked over to where he could see what was being processed. Just as he walked past a few dumpsters that lay overturned, he noticed that a scruffy-looking man was crouched behind one of them. Grissom stopped dead in his tracks as he noticed that man was carrying a 9 mil in his hand, checking if it was loaded.

"No…" Grissom told Brass. "Don't tell me he's going to shoot at me and Sara… who cleared the scene!?!?" he yelled at Brass.

"It's certainly not me, I'm 6 feet under at this point!" He chuckled.

Grissom ignored Brass' dark humor and continued to walk towards the suspect. The suspect got to his feet and walked over to another overturned dumpster and another, all this time staying out of sight from the CSI's.

"There must be something I can do!" Grissom yelled back at Brass.

"Try all you want Gil, but no one sees or hears you." Brass slowly walked towards Grissom who had panic written all over, his white cloak waving behind him.

"I have to stop it!" Grissom started running towards his other self and Sara, but it was too late. The suspect ran out from behind the dumpster and started to open fire towards the two CSI's. The suspect fired 3 shots, then a fourth shot was heard from the CSI's side. Grissom could see his other self crouching behind the crashed vehicle, smoking gun still in hand and suspect dead on the ground. Future Grissom seemed to be frozen there in time, but Grissom quickly ran to Sara, who lay on the ground face down.

"Nooo!" Grissom ran as fast as he could, but the closer he got, the worst things looked. Future Grissom finally got out of his reverie and came running to Sara too.

"Sara!" he yelled, but she didn't answer.

"Jim! Do something!" Grissom yelled over to Brass. Brass only pointed towards Grissom then towards Sara's limp form.

Grissom suddenly felt dizzy and closed his eyes, but when he opened them up again, he was wearing his CSI vest and was crouching beside Sara. Grissom felt like he really was there because he was in fact his future self.

"No, no, no, no…" Grissom repeated to himself grabbing Sara's shoulders and arms and turning her so that he could see her face.

"Griss…" she managed to say before she coughed up some blood all over his vest.

"Oh God…" he looked at her neck, she had been shot on the side of her neck, nicking her carotid artery, and blood started to come out more and more. Grissom quickly ripped a piece of his sleeve and used the material to cover the wound. Sara's hand suddenly grabbed at his shirt collar, gripping it with all her life.

"Sara this is bad… honey, can you hear me?" he looked at her face until her eyes started to flutter open again.

"Griss…" she muttered again, but she coughed up more blood. Grissom instinctively reached for his cell phone, but a weak hand grabbed his arm before he could.

"Don't. Have. Much. Time." Sara admitted, Grissom knew that Sara maybe had another few minutes before her blood loss would send her unconscious and the paramedics would never make it on time before her blood loss caused...

"Sara…" Grissom didn't know what to say, but his eyes spoke volumes.

"Feel. So. Weak…" She coughed again. Grissom's eyes started to get watery as he clutched her closer to him. Sara's eyes started to look weaker by the second, and he could feel her life sliding out of his arms. She opened up her eyes again, reached up her other hand to his face.

"I. Love. You." She whispered before her eyes closed and her body started to go limp in Grissom's arms.

"I've always loved you…" Grissom whispered back as he held her tight against his chest, but she was already gone. Grissom started sobbing uncontrollably as Brass walked over to him.

"Why? Why Jim? Why her?" Grissom was barely keeping it together. "I never got to tell her… she's gone now…" Grissom cried more as he held Sara's limp form against his heart.

"You should have told her before, now you'll never get the chance to tell her… she's mine now." Grissom looked up angrily to Brass that was standing beside him, but Brass wasn't wearing his white cloak anymore, but was now clad in a black hooded one, with a long dark scythe in hand beside him.

Grissom's anger tripled in volume. "YOU TOOK HER AWAY FROM ME???"

"I had to, it was her time anyways." Brass said sternly with icy blue eyes.

"Well, it was nice seeing you again Gil, but I must get going… I've got business to tend to." Brass walked over to Sara's limp form and crouched down.

"It was her time Gil, now let her go, it's over, she's mine now." Brass came to lift Sara out of Grissom's arms, but he didn't budge.

"YOU CAN'T! You'll have to do more than that to have her Jim!" Grissom barked back.

"Oh Gil, you amaze me, you don't show any emotion for decades, and now they finally come out, unbelievable…" Brass casually spoke.

"Get away from her!!" Grissom yelled back.

"Sorry, no can do." Brass smiled as he snapped his finger and Sara disappeared from Grissom's grasp.

"What did you do with her?!?!?" Grissom stood up angrily and grabbed Brass by the shoulders. "What did you do with her?!?!?" he repeated again, shaking Brass' shoulders harder.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you…" Brass stared with his icy eyes back at Grissom. "You definitely do not want to make me angry." He warned.

"And why's that??" Grissom shook Brass's shoulders again.

"Because you do not want to anger Death, Gil." Grissom slowly backed away and felt a strong grip on his shoulder. Grissom looked at the hand that gripped his shoulder, it wasn't Brass' hand at all, but a hand and fingers of white bone.

"I told you not to anger me!" and Brass pushed Grissom onto the ground on his back with his skeleton-like hand. Grissom was expecting to land on hard concrete and closed his eyes at the expected pain, but he landed on something rather soft. He slowly opened his eyes and found himself in a dark cemetery, lying on a mound of dirt.

"What the…?" he got up on his knees and looked over to what lay in front of him.

"Now, that you've angered me, what do you have to say about this?" Brass exclaimed as he pointed to Grissom's side. Grissom took a quick look. Two tombstones lay in front of him, one with the name Sara Laura Sidle marked on it, showing her birth date and her death date, December 24th 2005.

"It was Christmas eve!?!? WHY HER?!?!? WHY NOW?!?" Grissom yelled at Brass who had an evil smile plastered on his face. Brass pointed to the tombstone that lay next to Sara's. This one bearing his name, Gilbert Howard Grissom. It showed his birth date, and to his surprise, a death date, December 25th 2005.

"What is this?!?" Grissom barked back at Brass.

"Your turn. You couldn't take it and killed yourself." Brass was smiling evilly.

"I would never commit suicide and you know it!" Grissom yelled back.

"Is that right…?" Brass evilly laughed. "How about if I do this?" And before Grissom could react, Brass took his foot and kicked Grissom into the pre-dug hole in front of his tombstone. All Grissom could hear was Brass' evil laugh as he fell deeper and deeper into the hole, he closed his eyes until he hit something hard, really hard. Grissom slowly opened his eyes his back hurting, where was he? Was he dead? Grissom adjusted his eyes as an orangey glow hit his eyes, a fire. "Am I in hell?" he asked out loud. As his eyes adjusted, he noticed that the source of the fire was a fireplace. He sat up from the ground, looking at his surroundings. He was in his living room at his townhouse.

"I'm home??? I'm home!!" Grissom quickly got up from the ground and grabbed his cell phone and flipped it open. Today was still the same today that he lived when he worked the child abduction case!

"It, it, it was all a dream?!?" Grissom said loudly to himself. He made his way to his kitchen and grabbed his car keys and ran out the front door into the pouring rain.

Grissom parked his Denali in front of a familiar apartment building and shut off the ignition. He took a deep breath, stepped out of the SUV and quickly made his way towards the apartment building. Grissom took another deep breath and knocked on a door. He heard someone's footsteps on the other side of the door. The door opened up to a pajama-clad Sara.

"Grissom? What are you doing here?" Why was he on her doorstep at 6am?

"To do something I should have done a long time ago…" and before she could react, he had his arms around her and lips crashing on hers. He slowly backed away, brushing a stray strand of hair from her face, he was smiling.

"Why… why the change of heart?" Sara was still under the effect of surprise, not quite sure if she was dreaming or not.

"I've come to realize that life is simply too short, and that I wouldn't want either one of us to part without me telling you how much I love you…" Grissom had tears in his eyes, as did Sara. He gently wrapped his arms around her pj-clad torso, wrapping her in a warm hug. She responded by wrapping her arms around his back. "I've been waiting for you to say that for the longest time…" she sniffed and he could feel her tears soaking through his shirt on his shoulder.

"…And I love you too…" she quietly whispered into his ear as he tightened his hug.

"I think I finally know what to do about this," he whispered back into her ear. "…and I really want to give us a chance."

"I'd like that." She smiled as she kissed him back, ignoring the fact that her pajamas were drenched from Grissom's rain wet shirt.

It was always the darkest before the dawn, and Grissom finally understood what it felt to love and be loved.

FIN


End file.
